WyoLearn & WyoCourses Accessibility Title II Compliance

Accessibility Resources & Requirements

Courses and instructional materials offered by the University of Wyoming are considered official academic programs and must be accessible under Title II of the ADA. Content delivered through Canvas, including pages, documents, videos and assessments, must follow WCAG 2.1 AA standards to ensure equal access for all students. While course accessibility implementation and remediation are managed by faculty and instructional staff, this page provides an overview of expectations, tools and resources that support accessible course design and delivery.

Become Compliant

 

ACCESSIBLE COURSE MATERIALs: WHERE DO I START?

 

Small actions—like clicking the “fix issues” button on items within Canvas—can remove major barriers within University courses. The University is here to support you with resources, training, and drop-in support. Here is a RoadMap for where to begin!

 

  1. Purge.  Delete unused material, links, or references in your active course shells that you are not using any longer. 

  2. Learn What Resources Are Available to You.  Explore the variety of resources the University has in the links and sections below. Learning how to create content accessible from the start will be the number onething you can do to make a significant long-term impact for our University and its students.

  3. Prioritize:  Prioritize making new instructional content for Fall 2026 accessible.  Start with high enrollment courses and those that are required within plans of study.

  4. Use Accessibility Checkers: This includes Panorama in Canvas and the built-in checkers in Word, Powerpoint, etc. They help build new content to standards and identify old content that is still being used that needs consideration.  These tools often walk you through the steps needed to fix accessibility issues.
  5. Tips for Resolving the Most Common Issues in Canvas Content, Documents, and Media:
  • Use HTML or documents in their native format (e.g. Word, Powerpoint) instead of PDFs that require remediation (especially scanned PDFs)
  • Check that the visual presentation of text and images of text has a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. You can check color contrast ratio by utilizing WebAIM’s color contrast checker. 
  • Provide useable alternative text for visual content.
  • Apply heading & list styles within all digital content. 
  • Use descriptive text for links (instead of the URL or "click here").
  • Provide captioning for videos.

What is learning management system (Canvas) accessibility?
Learning management system accessibility refers to the practices that ensure course content in Canvas can be accessed and used by all students, including those who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers, captions or keyboard navigation.

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Next Steps for Becoming Compliant

UW has purchased the tool Panorama that integrates with Canvas to identify accessibility issues in course content, videos and instructional materials. To meet UW’s Title II accessibility expectations, faculty and instructional staff should follow the steps below when creating and maintaining course content in Canvas. These actions support accessible learning experiences for all students.

Complete Panorama Tool Training

Accessibility training for using Panorama inside Canvas has been released by the Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning (ECTL). This training will provide guidance on accessible course design, instructional materials and use of accessibility tools. We strongly encourage faculty and staff who manage course content in Canvas to review this training at their earliest convenience.

Watch the Training

Use Panorama to Identify and Address Accessibility Issues

All active courses will be scanned for accessibility issues beginning February 10, 2026. With over 1,500 instructor-led courses active inside Canvas, this process is expected to take up to one week to complete, and faculty will begin seeing accessibility annotations inside their courses as the scan progresses. We strongly encourage you to view the training and explore the resources ECTL has created to support faculty in achieving accessible course content.

View Faculty Resources

 

Caption Your Course Videos

All courses that use videos must have captions available for students. All staff and faculty have a Yuja Lumina account where they can create, upload and store media, which will be captioned automatically by Yuja. Faculty and staff can access their Yuja Lumina account within their course shell or, outside of Canvas. We recommend reviewing this brief video as you get started.

Get Started with Yuja Lumina

Create Accessible Documents

Documents, such as PDFs or Word docs, used in courses must meet accessibility standards. This includes properly structured documents with readable content. Faculty are responsible for ensuring course materials meet WCAG 2.1 AA requirements before they are shared with students.

Learn About DOCUMENT ACCESSIBILITY

 

Dedicated Support & Resources for Faculty

Faculty are critical assets to the university, and we recognize this adjustment can create additional work and time. The Ellbogen Center for Teaching & Learning has created several resources to assist faculty in this transition. We understand that some courses will require deeper adjustment, and numerous materials have been created to better understand the standards and implementation.

 

A faculty member looks at their laptop with mathmatical equations written on a white board in the background.

Accessible Course Design

Create Canvas pages & modules with clear headings, descriptive links and consistent structure. Well organized content helps all students navigate materials more easily and supports assistive technologies.

Documents & Media

Caption all instructional videos and use accessible documents in course materials. Files should be readable by screen readers and usable without a mouse before they are shared with students.

Use Available Tools

Use available accessibility tools such as Panorama to review course content and documents as they are added. Identifying issues early makes remediation easier and helps prevent barriers during the semester.

More Digital Accessibility Resources

Try the Alt Text Generator tool
Color contrast accessibility
Creating digital content for people with disabilities
Creating Course Video Captions